50 GOLDEN SUMMERS
A 'LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE' FESTIVAL REPORT
At the time of writing, a week has passed since the 50 Golden Summers Festival came to a close and after a whirlwind of activity, is is time to sit back and take stock of what transpired to be a once in a lifetime experience for all involved.
To begin with, we were thrilled from the outset to have the support of Roy Clarke, the creator of Last of the Summer Wine. Although he wasn't able to join us in person, he did record these words of encouragement to be played out at various events.
FRIDAY 26th MAY, 2023
With no booking required, we were unsure what to expect of the pub crawl. In the end around 30-40 people turned up at various stages for a warm meet and greet. Starting drinks at the Nook – who had prepared their Fill Your Boots With Blonde ale for the occasion – were followed by stops at The Shoulder of Mutton, The Elephant and Castle, O'Briens, and The Holmfirth Tavern.
Once very special stop along the way was at the newly placed statue marker for Bill Owen. It has taken over twenty years for this memorial to Holmfirth's adopted son to find a location in the town and extra special thanks should go to the dedicated people who took it upon themselves to make sure that it was finally on display for the anniversary weekend. The current location is temporary, but we hope that it will result in a permanent home.
SATURDAY 27th MAY, 2023
On the morning of Saturday 28th, a gaggle of brave folks drove along winding country roads in order to reach the patch of land now owned by Summer Wine superfan Chris Oakes. Chris bought this familiar location from the series when it came up for sale some time ago with the ambition of making it a place of pilgrimage for fans. Bacon, sausage and cheese rolls were on hand to provide a hearty start to the day. In the future, Chris' plans include placing a bench on the site so that people can take a break and enjoy the amazing views.
Summer Wine Friendships saw Andrew Bray's talk about his long association with the show and its stars attract many fans to The Holmfirth Tavern, who had to find extra seats!
Andrew first met Bill Owen in 1972 when he was just 11 years old and this was the beginning of an enduring friendship between Andrew and Bill, ending when Andrew helped arrange Bill’s funeral in Holmfirth. He also talked about the history of Holmfirth and Bamforth’s - known for their pioneering work in cinema and the famous saucy seaside postcard.
Summer Wine Memories was our first ticketed event at The Civic and saw Bob Fischer invite a panel of luminaries from the series on to the stage. Some fascinating stories followed from Stuart Fell (Stuntman), Tommy Cannon (Cliff), Jonathan Linsley (Crusher) and David Fenwick (Clegg in First of the Summer Wine). The audience also had the opportunity to ask questions and mingle with our guests, who all loved the opportunity to meet devotees.
The evening's entertainment was provided in the form of Crusher Returns: An Audience With Jonathan Linsley. Jonathan is an amazing ambassador for the series and all who attended were moved by his tribute to his Summer Wine friends and colleagues as illustrated by his beautiful paintings.
Jonathan's wonderful performance was recorded for posterity and will be made available for purchase at a later date.
Across the entire weekend, Holmfirth was swamped with familiar looking garb. From our professional character models, to festive fans and canine costumes – so many people made the effort that it was almost impossible to turn a corner in Holmfirth without running into a familiar sight. Also present for the weekend were two cars of the stars – Edie's red triumph and Entwhistle's van. The former was proudly displayed in multiple locations around the Holme valley and was accompanied by its very own and uncanny Wesley, while the latter was present in the form of the vehicles stunt double – the front cab which was originally used for green screen shots in the studio.
Businesses from around the town also came out in full force to support the weekend, with speciality beers, menus, and displays dotted all over the place. And not just in the expected locations either; did anybody spot the display in the estate agent window?!
SUNDAY 28th MAY, 2023
The celebratory festivities continued into Sunday, starting with Me and My Summer Wine – a deeply personal talk by longtime fan Darren Williams who's four year passion project to create miniature representations of Compo, Clegg, and Foggy formed the basis of the chat. The results of his unique creative endeavour were on display for all to see and Darren even brought a star of the show along with him – Tom Simmonite's puppet pal, Waldo the dog!
After a covid-imposed break from their national tour, Bob Fischer and Andrew T. Smith returned to the stage with Summer Winos: Live – a celebration of the series and those who made it told through the lens of the duo's own mounting obsession with the show. Summer Winos: Live began life as an Edinburgh Fringe extension of their popular blog before going on to tour venues up and down the country.
As part of Andrew and Bob's ramshackle tribute, the audience were treated to an old fashioned slide show, a kazoo orchestra, and terrible puns. Two audience members were even roped onto the stage – donning costumes to become Foggy and Nora!
Wrapping up the planned events for the weekend was a charity screening of Getting Sam Home – the Last of the Summer Wine television feature film that was itself celebrating a 40th anniversary. Newly refreshed from the BBC's original master tape, fans were able to see the movie in greater quality than ever before and behind the scenes work put into this event eventually led to a fully-fledged HD restoration which screened on BBC4 over Christmas 2023!
As an extra special treat, the screening was introduced by Ken Kitson, who had made his Summer Wine debut as PC Cooper in the film. Ken regaled the audience with stories about his time on the show and was on hand to answer questions and post for photographs following the screening.
With that, our 50 Golden Summers weekend came to a close. Over the course of three days fans and locals were united, laughs were had, and a not inconsiderable amount of money was raised for two charities – the Holmfirth Sharing Memories Group and Children in Need.
We'll see you at the 60th!